March 19, 2017

Requiem for Dissent: McGovern-ing in the era of Trump

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, right (shown at the city's 2016 birthday celebration on Worcester Common), has plenty on his plate as he grapples with many Trump administration positions.

“We ought to look at this moment as a privilege to be on the playing field and to engage in these battles. … Ten years from now people are going to ask what you did at this time. I think it’s important for people to stand up and to resist when it’s appropriate.”

If the 2nd Congressional District were carved into Worcester County only, U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, might have a problem. Many of those towns voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election.

But the 2nd has roots in Franklin and Hampshire counties as well, with liberal enclaves like Northampton and Amherst that combined with Worcester should keep McGovern safe as long as he wants to hold office.

The 2nd voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent. So that would indicate that the district is safe for McGovern for at least the time being.

To that end, it’s not your imagination: McGovern, one of the most unabashed liberals in Congress, has been ubiquitous in active resistance in the weeks since Donald Trump was elected president — calling for, among other things, an independent investigation into Russian influence in the election.

“If you don’t have an independent investigation,” he said, “people aren’t going to believe the results.”

His higher-than-normal profile has been a conscious course of action.

“There’s so much happening that I think it requires more responses and more action, more resistance,” he said in a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Worcester Sun. “I want to protect the values I think are important to the country.”

Richard Nangle is a journalism graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and he currently teaches journalism at Emerson College. He has reported for the Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Bridgeport Post, New Haven Register and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where he worked for 18 years, 14 in the city itself covering politics, government and breaking news. He covered the priest abuse scandal as it affected Worcester County and wrote investigative stories on hunger in and children's mental health. He worked in public affairs for the state Department of Social Services, Highway Department and Registry of Motor Vehicles. He graduated Boston College in 2015 with an MS in administration and is associate editor of the International Journal of Nursing Knowledge.

In Case You Missed It

Many people have asked us about news we’ll be covering, but an equal number have asked questions about how the Sun’s website, worcester.ma, will work. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions:
Are you a paid site?